Over Time
by wicked-nachos-09
Summary: Claire and her family go to stay with family in Sunnydale. Can you guess who? They saved Elle from Bob and she has withdrawn herself. Elle x Claire Buffy x Heroes
1. Chapter 1

Elle slowly came into conciousness. Her head was pounding and the pain was coming in waves as she woke up fully. Bob Bishop was standing next to her bed and Elle began to struggle against her restraints. Her entire body was freezing, she was shaking and exhausted and tied up to to a cold slab in a tub full of ice cold water wearing nothing but a thin hospital gown.

"You betrayed me, Elle. I raised you and took care of you, didn't I? You are MY DAUGHTER! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO AS I SAY!'' screamed Bob. According to him, she had screwed up again. Elle didn't screw up, she went against him and had been for at least two months. Noah Bennet wanted to take down the Company. Claire and Peter wanted in on that and seeing as they had powers it gave them a small advantage. Even though Noah Cand Peter were still weary of Elle, Claire had began to trust her since they convinced the Hiatian to give her her memories back. Her and Claire actually got along. She realised what and who her father was. Evil.

"You tortured me! I was a child, Dad!" Elle screamed, still fighting her restraints. "You drugged me to see how much I could take. How much I could make. Because of you, I got disgnosed as a sociopath. Because of you I had no childhood. You ruined my life!"

Her left cheek suddenly stung sharply as her father slapped her. "I'm sorry, Elle. But you did this to yourself," said Bob and walked out, never looking back. Now with tears in her eyes, Elle realised where she was as she screamed for her father to let her out. She was still in Hartsdale in one of their so many 'abandoned warehouses'. It was one of their experiment labs. Or as she called them, the tortured chambers.

The lab techs left Elle on the table, tightned her restraints and went into a viewing room. She could see them pushing buttons and turning nobs. They igorned her screams of pain as high voltage electric bolts flew around the room. Her father was no longer her hero. He had walked out and authorised the torture of his daughter again. But this time it wasn't for testing. It was for revenge. What a great father.

After the seconds turned to minutes and the minutes to hours, Elle never stopped screaming after her voice went hoarse and throat bloody. Hours turned to days, days to weeks and her hopes that Peter or Claire might come for her slowly drifted away. She would sit in her cell, forced to take the pills she supplied to Peter for days on end, and then electrocuted. With no powers it made her more vulnerable to what they were doing. Now she was psycologically more damdaged.

* * *

Down in Bob's office as he was filling out paperwork when a loud crash sounded outside the room. As he got up to investigate it, his door slammed opened revealing Claire and Peter both with smirks on their faces. Peter was holding a forcefield around them and the room and Claire had a loaded handgun in her hands, pointed directly at Bob.

"Tell me Bob, where did you take her?" asked Claire, pressing the gun to his head. "Where is Elle?"

"You can't shoot me. You can't even fire a gun!" he spat, preparing himself to hit her so he could make a break for it. He knew she would heal and get right back up again. What he wasn't counting on was her to fire the gun at his feet missing his right one by an inch. After firing her weapon, she pushed the hot metal to the skin under his chin, burning him. As Bob moved his head back to get away from the gun while Claire interegated him, he threw the punch and she landed on the couch. Running towards the door, Peter pulled his gun and aimed it right between Bob's eyes and he gulped visibly.

"Don't make us ask again," warned Peter. Claire pushed herself up from the couch and aimed hers at the back of his head. All he did was look at his watch.

"Right Now? She is paying for betraying me," he said simply.

"Where!" yelled Peter.

"Down near your old cell," he said. Peter shot him in the foot. "You better not be lying."

They rushed out and own halls and stairs till they reached his old cell. Down that hall passed Adam's old room, the pair could hear screaming. When they reached the door, Claire pushed but it did not budge. Peter pushed her back and flung the door open using his powers. The tech labs in the viewing room all turned to look at them as they got knocked out.

"Claire, don't touch her yet. Let me turn it off, first. Then get her out," ordered Peter, flicking switches and pushing buttons. Finally, Elle stopped shaking and her head dropped back.

"Elle, we gotta get you out of here, okay. Come on," said Claire, taking in her injuries as she undid her restraints. Helping her out of the water and off the slab, she basically had to drag Elle out of the Company building and into the waiting car. They had run into a limping Bob just meters from the exit. He warned Elle that if she left, he would find her and do worse to her. She hadn't been taking her meds for the past week, good thing too. She released a shock to Bob, making him crumple to the floor.

Noah was driving, Peter had jumped into the passenger seat and Claire was cleaning up Elle's cuts in the back seat. Reaching over the back seat, Claire produced a thick blanket and wrapped it around the shivering girl, trying to warm her up. She had gotten Elle to lay down curl up on her side saying it would be easier to get warmer. They had a long drive back to Costa Verde.


	2. Chapter 2

Elle had finally fallen asleep in the car when they reached Texas. They had stopped in a motel close to midnight the night after they got Elle out of the Company. Peter and Noah were to share a room and Noah had agreed to let Claire and Elle share the room right next to his and Peters. He had filled a magazine with bullets and put it on safety, giving it to Claire incase they needed it. The two men had agreed to take shifts during the night to watch through the window incase the had been followed by someone. They were on the bottom floor of the seedy motel just if they needed to make a break for it. Noah and Peter didn't want to take any chances. With it being winter it didn't really help Elle after being in the ice cold water for weeks on end, so they put the heaters on in the room, Claire forced Elle to have a warm shower to help and then to zap her lightly to make sure she still had it.

Claire was sitting on the floor with her chin on Elle's bed, gently stroking the older girls hand. "How do you feel?"

"Everything hurts. It's like I've been numb for days and everything is only coming back now," replied Elle. Bruised covered her body, a black eye preoccupied her right one, she had sworn she heard something crack several days ago, cuts marred her arms and legs, a few on her stomach, a busted lip was obvious.

"You know, you should try and get some sleep," suggested Claire, pushing a strand of hair from her eyes.

"I don't sleep anymore," she said simply and firmly.

"Elle-," Claire started.

"How long did they have me?" she asked and memories came back of what she had been put through.

"Two and a half weeks. Can you just try? Please?" pleaded the cheerleader.

"Only if you stay," Elle reasoned. She was broken more than ever because of the torture. Not just physically. She had been given wounds and injuries from several beatings that her father authorised. There was a beating every other night and electro-shock every day. She was tired, sore and broken, yet again.

As Claire climbed into the bed behind Elle, wrapping a protective arm around her, she remembered the moments just before she was taken. They were walking down a beach, getting to know each other better. Elle had just gotten her memories back from her childhood so she had learned about the kind of man her father was. To say they became friends wouldn't be entirely true. More like friends with benefits. Elle had never had someone that cared for her in that way. Claire had started to genuinely like Elle. One thing led to another and next thing they knew, it was make-out sessions nearly everytime they were alone. They would hold hands when alone in the car. Noah would kill both of them if he found out. If he knew how to kill Claire

"I missed you so much," Claire whispered into Elle's ear, pressing a soft kiss to her neck. She could feel Elle turning over under the covers so she was facing the younger girl. She slipped her arm over Claire's waist as she was pulled close, arm overlapping hers and the other under her neck, fulling engulfing her in Claire's arms.

"Missed you more," replied Elle as some stray tears slid down her face. And that was how they fell asleep till a knock on the door woke them at five am.

* * *

In Sunnydale, California, Joyce Summers was on the phone with her older sister Sandra. She had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor and needed to tell the only family she had left. She felt that her eldest daughter could tell her ex-husband. They had been alot closer than Joyce and Hank had been after the divorce. 

"I don't know...I have an appointment in three days...Dawn will be left to Buffy if anything happens...If something does happen, you'll be there for them won't you?...You don't have to come down...Alright, I'll set up the guest rooms. How many are there coming?...Five of you? Did you adopt or have another baby?...Claire's enemy turned friend turned lover? Noah doesn't know...I won't say a word and neither will the girls...Okay, they can share...It'll be great to see you...I love you, too. See you tomorrow," said Joyce, hanging up.

"Girls, get your butts down here," said Joyce. Looking up the stairs she saw her prodigy daughter Buffy walk down the stairs glumly with Dawn trailing behind. "We're having guests for a while."

"Mom, is that a good idea? You just got diagnosed with a tumor," said Buffy, only seeing negative points.

Joyce partly igonored her. "Who's coming?" asked Dawn. She hadn't spoken since her mother told her six hours ago.

"Your Aunt Sandra, Uncle Noah, yours cousins Claire and Lyle and...how do I put this? Claire's girlfriend Elle. But your Uncle doesn't know about the last part so don't tell him, okay?" explained Joyce.

"Aunt Sandy's coming down? And Uncle Noah? God I haven't seen Claire in years. Lyle was such a brat last time I saw him," said Buffy, walking back to her room.

"Oh and no Slayer business around them, Buffy," yelled the mother of two. Once she heard the 'yes, mum' back, she was satisfied.

"But I've never met them," pointed out Dawn.

"Well, they will be staying for a while so you'll have plenty of time to get to know them. Claire's about a year older than you and Lyle is in your year I think. If I remember their birthdays correctly. I'm not sure about Elle," explained Joyce, hugging Dawn. "Everything will be fine."

* * *

Back in the dingy hotel at two am, Noah picked up his phone when it rang seeing as it was his shift. A cup of mildly warm coffee sat on the table next to him. 

"Hi, honey," he said very calmly. "Oh, I'm sorry about Joyce...Will she be okay?... Okay we'll meet you down there...Don't forget to take clothes more Elle and Claire. They could probably just share...What's the address? Yep. Once I send Peter off back home...It went well...She's a little banged up and slightly withdrawn...Yes, I'll feed them...She's very pale...Yeah, her powers are fine...I'll see you in Sunnydale...Bye, sweetheart," said Noah, sighing and resting his head on the back of the chair, nearly dozing off.

At five am, he woke Peter and then went to the girls room next door. He found them with the light on and Claires arm over Elle. He brushed it off as comfort. Before the older girl had been taken, they had become closer than what they used to be. "Dress warm, we're going to visit your aunt in Sunnydale. How you feeling Elle?"

"Better than yesterday. Thank you, for getting me," she said, hugging the older man.

"Be ready to go in twenty minutes. Sunnydale is still a sever hour drive. We'll eat on the way," said Noah


	3. Chapter 3

Elle was asleep in her lap, her dad was in the front seat, Peter had flown back to New York and the three of them had just left a diner in Dumpsville, Texas. She was sleeping peacefully as Claire played with a few strands of hair and all three seats in the back of the SUV had been reclined so the girls could get some sleep in some kind of comfort till they reached Sunnydale. Behind Elle's back, where Noah couldn't see in the rear view mirror, Claire had her hand sitting in the back pocket of Elle's jeans comfortably, her thumb soothingly rubbing back and forwards over the demin covered hip.

----------------------

Five hours later the two Bennets and the Bishop reached the outskirts of Sunnydale and Noah patted Claire on the leg to wake her up. Minutes later and several shocks to Claire from Elle, both girls were awake but still asleep. Little did the three know, Buffy had had a sleep over with Riley, who had gone home and come back to meet more of his girlfriend's family. Little did anyone know, Riley, Elle and Noah Bennet all shared the same secret. It was just after one in the afternoon when they reached Revello Drive, Sunnydale. Pulling up outside the house with 'Summers' marked on the mailbox, the front door was flung open as Sandra Bennet ran to hug her husband and daughter. Seeing the shape Elle was in, she gave the girl a nice, warm and long hug as well as a small kiss to the forehead. She was sure that Elle had never really recieved those types of hugs while growing up. The loving hugs. Just cold, hard orders.

Lyle ran out to his father. After nearly losing him, he became for grateful for what he did have. It was true. Lyle Bennet was no longer a bratty child. He even hugged Claire, despite the fact they always fought with each other. "Come on, we have to introduce you to your cousin Dawn and all of Buffy's friends," said Sandra, while a small pile of people gathered on the front porch of 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale. When Riley Finn saw Mr Bennet and Elle Bishop his back automatically straighted, his chest puffed out and he slightly tuned out as he gave his blank military stare, attention straight ahead. He was at the back of the pack, just behind Tara, and thankfully no one noticed his posture. It didn't matter that Riley was no longer apart of the Initiative, Noah Bennet was still his superior and Elle Bishop was the Big Boss' daughter. He was graced with a small glared smile from Elle. He was so screwed. Elle knew the name Buffy Summers from one of the files on experimentation from somewhere in the Company. She was sure it would click later on.

"Aunt Joyce," said Claire, engulfing the elder woman in a hug. The woman who had always been her favourite Aunt. She still didn't know about the tumor. "Buffy."

As Sandra and Buffy introduced Joyce, Claire, Elle, Dawn, Tara, Willow, Xander, Anya and Riley to each other, Noah said hi to each of the teens and his nieces, whispered 'At ease, soldier' into Riley's ear. Joyce made sure to ask Elle if she wanted to rest. She had been beaten up and electrocuted by her fathers lackeys for two and a half weeks after all. Politely declining, she slipped past Riley and into the house, making sure to zap him sharply on the way. He only flinched slightly and Buffy noticed it as she talked with Claire. Unfortunately for Elle, Claire noticed too. The Slayer could've sworn she saw the zap come from Elle's finger tips, even though there was a forced apology, claiming it was static built up from the car ride.

Elle, Claire and Noah were given a tour of the nicely sized house by Buffy and Dawn, before Buffy was forced reluctantly to take her sister, cousins and friends out to lunch. Joyce's exact words were, 'Why don't you take everyone for lunch. Don't forget your sister.' A loud, long moan which sounded something like 'mum' came from both girls. A stern look from Joyce Summers could easily shut up and scare both girls in a loving way, even if Buffy fought scarier things like demons, vampires, robots, Harmony.

"I would 'say take the car,' but you can't drive," said Joyce handing Buffy about forty dollars to pay for hers, Dawns, Claire's, Lyle's and Elle's food. Sandra slipped Claire some extra cash to make sure Elle ate a decent meal, no matter if she was hungry or not. Claire and Elle didn't know that everyone, besides Noah, knew of their relationship. It was only till they were at least two blocks from the house that Willow pointed out, "You do know that you are allowed to hold your girlfriends hand, right?" She proved her point by holding her and Tara's hands up, fingers interlaced. They were both smiling

"You all know?" asked Claire, looking between the pack.

"Yeah. Mom warned all of us not to tell your dad," said Dawn.

"I knew I liked your mum for some reason," said Elle, slipping her hand into Claire's, feeling content with it. Elle knew that Claire felt guilty about having to lie to her father and about having to stop being lovey with Elle whenever he was around. Riley was behind the pack of girls with Xander and Lyle, asking the younger boy about where he was from and such, glad not to be on the recieving end of one of Elle's glares again. She always made him nervous, even though he was a like a really over-protective brother.

"Who wants to take a short cut?" said Buffy, stepping into the graveyard.

Elle smired and shook her head a tiny bit as it clicked in her head. The name Buffy Summers clicked in her mind after a slightly painful fifteen minute walk. A new record for her. Buffy Summers. The Vampire Slayer. 'So that's why Riles got booted from the family,' thought Elle. Riley had always been a favourite of Doctor Walsh's and her fathers. A few years ago before the transfer of the Initiative, every sunday the head of the Initiative, her father, herself, Riley, who was a special guest of her fathers (and one of their human experiments) and occasionally the Hiatian and Noah would sit down for a 'family dinner'. The only constant thing in Elle's messed up life.

Walking the drive of the Sunnydale Cemetary was oddly frightening for Dawn, even though she knew that vampires only came out after sunset. It was a lengthy walk through the cemetary, till they reached the other end and right into a public filled street. There was a small 'Healthy Bits' shop near a coffee shop where they grabbed their sandwiches, salads, coffees and muffins before walking round the corner and right into the Magic Box.

"Oh...H-h-hello," stuttered Giles, meeting the newcomers, shaking hands as the girls and Lyle looked at the different things in the store. Plonking themselves around the table and onto the stairs, Elle in Claires lap and Willow in Tara's to make room for everyone. Dawn handed Giles a bag with a salad sandwich and a muffin in it for lunch. He thanked them graciously before leaning against the bookshelf to dig into his meal. Riley was on the stairs with water in his hands and Buffy between his legs.

"So Elle, where you from? We heard all about Texas from Lyle and Mrs Bennet. What about you?" he asked nervously.

Tempted to make a snide remark but resisting. She didn't know how much all the others knew. Elle didn't know if they knew about the Initiative, the Company, the experiments, the Vampire Slayer (even though she had a good idea that they all knew about Buffy) and even the powers of people like Claire and herself. She answered after an awkward silence between them. "New York. Born and raised." 'Even though you should know that brother,' she though.


	4. Chapter 4

Buffy decided to take the new members of the gang through Sunnydale and they walked all the way from Buffy's house, through the cemetary, which they conveniently went past Spikes crypt, to the Magic Box, then out past UC Sunnydale, the Bronze ("We have to take you there," squealed Buffy, who was excited to see her cousins again) and the rubble that was the high school right before the Scoobies had blown it up, before turning to go through the park that led straight to the end of Revello Drive.

It was getting later and later and by the time they got home, which was at about five thirty, Elle unlaced her fingers from Claire's even though it killed her to do so. Chinese was ordered just after Xander left, Anya dragging him out the door because he wanted Chinese, and Dawn and Lyle set up the small picnic table in the back yard for the kids to eat at while the adults sat on the swing on the veranda.

Elle had slightly been interrogated by Joyce about where she was from and how she got to be so badly injured, while in Buffy's room, the Slayer questioned Riley about the tension between him, Elle and her Uncle. Elle's response to that badly injured bit was, "Bad family household." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Okay, what's going on between you and Elle?" asked Buffy, closing her bedroom door behind her. Her boyfriend was probably expecting a make-out session.

"What do you mean?" he asked, trying to act innocent.

"You obviously know her. I swear when she walked past you and into the house, she shocked you. Even though she claimed it was static. Spill, Riley," ordered Buffy.

"You can't tell anyone," he said, continuing. "She's the boss' daughter."

"Walsh had a daughter?" asked Buffy, slightly shocked. Elle didn't look anything like Maggie Walsh.

"Not Walsh. Elle is Walsh's boss' daughter. The Initiative was given orders, not by the military even though the soldiers had that training. The Company gave Doctor Walsh the orders on what to do, where to go, what to look for and how to experiment on them. Just before college started, I was in New York, sightseeing. I got recruited by Bob Bishop, her father. I was like a favourite to them 'because to them I was the perfect experiment. A human experiment. They captured Vamps, Demons, and all sorts of things. But they wanted to make the perfect soldier. They pumped me with chemicals and put that chip in me. That's why I was a favourite. Then just before the Initiative moved to Sunnydale for the Hellmouth, I was ordered to look after Elle. Five years ago. She became like my sister. We had something in common. We were both experiments to them."

"What is she? If they did stuff to her," asked Buffy, trying to process the fact that her cousin's girlfriend had a history with her current boyfriend.

"She was a human experiment. Tortured with electroshock, anything electrical. I read her file before I started to baby-sit her. By the time she was seven, which was just after they started testing on her, Elle could light up entire city blocks at a time," he explained, dropping himself onto Buffy's bed.

"Why is she mad at you?" she asked.

"I was assigned to look after her when she turned sixteen. Elle wanted to go out. She hated being stuck inside. So I took her to a movie, after we left, I got knocked out and she was taken. Tortured. Beaten, Things like that. She blamed me 'because I let her get taken. Then we got moved a year later after she was found. They had her for about a month, before Bob found her. He personally put a bullet into the heads of anyone that was included in the kidnapping of Elle Bishop," he finished.

"You telling my life story, now Riles?" asked a voice from the door. Both of them had failed to notice the door open and Elle standing there. He remained silent and Elle walked back downstairs. "Food's here."

* * *

Later that night just after Claire had fallen asleep and Elle was pretty sure the rest of the house was as well, she heard a noise like footsteps outside the door. Being held captive for two and a half weeks meant your senses enhanced, so you knew who was walking outside your cell, could smell which bastard got to beat you that day. She was positive the front door opened and closed so the small and frail girl slipped from the bed, pulled from shoes and a jacket on and went to leave the room only to be stopped by Claire.

"What are you doing? You tortured for two weeks and you need to rest," she said in a hushed yell.

"Put some clothes on and follow me, quick. Trust me," said Elle, as Claire pulled her own clothes on over her pyjama's, knowing that Elle wouldn't give this up. Following the older girl to the front of her Aunt's house, her girlfriend's head whipped to the right as a shadow could be seen. Elle was positive that it was Buffy and Riley.

Pulling the cheerleader in the direction of the shadows, Elle linked her hands with Claire's again for the second time that day, always happy when she was able to touch her.

"Where are we going?" asked Claire, cold and tired.

"You trust me, don't you?" asked Elle, straining her eyes in the darkness even as flash backs invaded her mind.

"Yeah, you know I do," replied Claire.

"Then trust me. I want to check something out," she replied, Claire pulling her forwards into the direction that they were originally headed in. A ten minuted walk later and they arrived outside the cemetary. Elle made to walk in but Claire stopped her.

"I am not going in there," said Claire.

"Aww. Is the indestructible cheerleader scawed?" asked Elle, in a babyish voice.

"I'm not _scawed_. I'm _scared shitless_ It's a friggin' cemetary and its past midnight. You don't know who or what could be in there," said Claire, crossing her arms over her chest, after pointing into the darkened graveyard.

"I got a pretty good idea. What if I said, 'I'll protect you'?" smiled Elle, pulling the younger girl to her for a small kiss by her waist.

"Then I would say, 'you got beaten and tortured for two weeks. I'd be the one protecting you'," said Claire, wrapping her arms around Elle's neck for another kiss. "Fine."

A growl came from somewhere in the cemetary, not too far from the entrance, as well as the sound of people being thrown around. By instinct Claire ran forward, dragging Elle with her, who pulled her back as they reached the source of the sound. There was Buffy and Riley surrounded by at least twelve vampires, waiting for one of the blood sucking fiends to make the first move. When no one did, Elle pushed Claire gently behind her as she let out some major shots. The sharp shooting training really paid off as seven vamps turned to dust right in front of their eyes.

Taking the advantage, Buffy and Riley punched and kicked the remaining five as Elle shocked another one, sending it into an old tombstone, exploding on impact. She was starting to get dizzy and used the wall as a support while Claire grabbed her waist, sitting her down on the stairs of the mausoleum. Sticking her head around the corner of the building was a bad idea as a very sharp sword went through her shoulder and nearly caused her to scream out in pain.

As the Buffy dusted the final vamp, she rushed to where her sword went, positive that she heard it go through something that sounded like a body. Cautiously she and Riley made their way around the mausoleum. Sprinting forward when she realised that she hadn't hit a demon or vampire, but rather her cousin, who was beginning to cough up blood.

"Claire, what the hell are you doing out here?" asked Buffy, throwing her stake over her shoulder and hitting another vampire in the heart.

"Pull out the sword," said Claire, her breathing becoming shallow. She couldn't heal until whatever had hurt her was out of her body.

"No, we have to get you to a hospital," said Buffy, moving to pick her up.

"Elle, can you please pull the damn sword out," yelled Claire, painfully pushing Buffy away.

Elle stepped out of the shadows as her dizzy spell ended and did as her girlfriend asked. She pulled the sword from Claire's shoulder and drove it into the ground. Buffy and Riley stood there in slight shock at Claire. Sure they had seen some weird things around. But never had they seen someone who could heal themselves.

"Are you okay?" asked Buffy.

"You stabbed me with a sword!" said Claire.

"She really hates it when people do that," stated Elle, receiving a mock annoyance glare from Claire.


	5. Chapter 5

After a fairly long explanation about how Claire healed herself, how the vamps blew up simultaneously (which Elle tried to pass off as a lightning strike on a clear winters night), that vampires, demons and hell were literally real, Elle and Riley's history came out to Claire with extra information Riley had left out. Buffy did not look very happy with him at all. As they all started to walk back to Buffy's, Claire wrapped an arm around Elle.

"So what can you do?" asked Buffy, looking towards Elle. Riley and Elle had known about Claire and had knowledge of a vampire slayer from files at the Company and the Initiative.

"I'm...basically like a high voltage power station. Watch. May I?" she answered, turning to Claire.

"Where am I standing?" asked Claire as she agreed to let Elle shock her to show her cousin what the two of them could do.

"Right in front of me, please," replied Elle, pointing to the spot directly in front of her.

"Wait – why does she get shocked?" asked Riley, speaking up after at least ten minutes in silence.

"Because she can heal herself. You know why," said Buffy. From what she had learnt in the past half hour, Riley knew all about her cousin and her cousin's girlfriend. Just not about their relationship.

Elle slipped her fingers into Claire's, holding them up to show Buffy and Riley what they were capable of. Holding in her painful scream, Claire's hand slowly turned to black charcoal and within minutes was back to normal, completely smooth and brand new. Since Elle had joined Noah, Peter and Claire in their bout to take down the Company, the two girls had slowly turned friends which then lead them to being lovers, the older blonde hadn't really like hurting Claire as their facade went on till Bob found out Elle was betraying him. Even though she might have thoroughly enjoyed hurting her because she could heal herself, Elle still knew that Claire had to get hurt to heal and with the hurt came pain in different levels of severity.

"That don't prove nothing," said Riley, his accent coming out as he yelped and jumped behind Buffy for protection. Elle had sharply shocked him yet again. Buffy looked at him with a 'Don't-hide-behind-me-if-I-were-her-I'd-do-that-too' look on her face.

"Pick a tombstone then, you Army-brat," said Elle, wrapping both arms around Claire protectively and partly out of guilt for hurting her. "How about him?" she said, pointing out a vampire.

"Sure, why not? It's only Spike," explained Buffy.

Holding her hand out like a gun, Elle shot a very powerful electric bolt at him, sending him to the ground and keeping him there, as his vampire face, with the sharp fangs and yellow eyes, came out to play. Spike didn't get up right away, staying down in case it was some more Initiative morons trying to capture him again. The four left to go back to Buffy's house finally, with the two girls snaking their arms around each other in the cold. Riley was left hanging when he tried to put an arm over Buffy's shoulders and she shrugged him off. Man she was pissed at him.

Little did the small group, and Spike, know, they were being watched by three Initiative soldiers who were hidden by large shrubs and trees. They had just found their target.

* * *

Finally half an hour later, the group took their time, they reached 'la Casa de Summers', Riley left to go back to his apartment to think of a way to make it up to Buffy bit time. Slipping quietly into the house, they were interrupted by Joyce, who cleared her throat quietly, not wanting to wake anyone up. The three girls froze on the bottom stair and turned to meet her stern gaze.

"Kitchen now!" was all she said.

Following her in there, they were met with Sandra's strong glare. They were majorly screwed in their current situation.

"Okay, I get why you left, Buffy, but I told you none of _that_ around them," said Joyce, temper flaring which was mostly directed at Buffy.

Deciding to pull out the big guns right off the bat, Buffy pouted and the puppy dog eyes came into play. "But, muuuuum. They followed me. They heard me and Riley leave and followed. It's not entirely my fault."

"Explain," said Sandra, playing with the string on her tea and looking towards Claire and Elle, whose hands were clasped together. It felt normal.

"I...heard Buffy leave so I went to follow. I had heard or read her name somewhere in the files at the Company and then it clicked. She is the _Slayer_. Just before I opened the bedroom door, she busted me," explained Elle, pointing at Claire and wanting to take the heat from either girl. They wouldn't be in trouble if it had just been Buffy who had left.

"Elle, you should know better. You should be resting, not running around in the middle of the night," scalded Sandra, looking at Elle.

"I can't. I get too restless. You don't know what it's like to be tortured for a week straight or take a long, hard beating and then have to stay up all night just to go catch a plane or take a full day drive to follow and hurt people, to kill people. You don't know what that's like. That's how I have lived my life since the day I was born," said Elle, her voice raising the slightest, not wanting to wake Noah up and then have to explain everything to him too, so she just left. She let go of Claire's hand and walked out of the house. Even though it came out harsher than Elle had anticipated, she knew that Sandra was right. Mothers usually were.

Keeping her head down, Claire rushed out after Elle and Buffy was scalded one more time before being told to go to bed. They all knew that the two girls could take care of themselves if it came to that.

Outside the house Claire sprinted after Elle, who was badly and very painfully speed walking away from the house. Catching up easily, Claire put her arms around Elle, causing her to stop in her tracks and automatically melt into the embrace. Claire had that effect on Elle. The effect that she never got or caused because she never had the chance too. All Claire had to do was hold the older girl and she would feel wanted, needed, safe, on occasion.

Suddenly and painfully Elle lowered herself from Claire's arms and to the ground as her ankle gave way. Sitting behind the blonde girl in pain, Claire pulled her close as her lips were softly pressed to Elle's exposed and cold neck, tears slowly slipping their way down her face to her chin where they would drop onto her jacket. "Did you mean that? About the beatings? I mean, I knew about the torture, but not that," asked Claire, Elle turning in her arms and dropping her head into the crook of Claire's neck.

"Yeah," came almost inaudibly from Elle as she sighed.

"I love you," said Claire, smiling. Elle looked up and smiled as well.

"You, too," said Elle. Being neglected as a child, she had never experienced many feelings like love, only ones like happiness and giddiness when torturing people and pain and fear when being tortured.

"Come on, hun, let's get you home, so you can try to rest. From the way you were treated by...by _him_, you need to start to have a routine, with eating and sleeping and resting," said Claire, lifting Elle from the ground, kissing her and helping her limp past the seven houses all the way back to their very own bedroom. Until of course, Sandra and Noah found one nearby that they could buy to keep an eye on Joyce. They still had to tell Claire and Lyle, and to Elle, about the tumor in their aunt's brain.

Painfully and slowly, the two girls made their way back to the front door and tried to get upstairs quietly, but with Elle's ankle, probably sprained, that made it a little more difficult. Luckily Buffy had disobeyed Joyce when she was told to go to bed. She was twenty years old after all, not a kid like Dawn. Rushing into the kitchen, she grabbed the icepack from the freezer, wrapped it up in a kitchen handtowel from the linen closet downstairs and put Elle's other arm over her own shoulders. Elle was light and Buffy was strong, but it was still a challenge for Buffy and Claire, having to work together to get them into the bedroom.

"Thanks," said Elle, slipping her shoes off carefully and sitting back on the bed. Buffy handed the ice to Claire after her jacket had been shrugged off to the floor.

"I'll see you guys in the morning," replied Buffy, smiling at the tenderness that Claire showed to Elle. She was positive that Claire would show her that love and treatment even when she wasn't in such bad shape like she was now. Buffy sighed as she closed the door behind her and thought of the times she and Riley had had like that.

Morning came too quickly for anyone in the house, especially Buffy, who had classes at college today. Claire and Elle woke up in each other's arms again when Dawn banged on the door to wake them up.

"I could get used to waking up like this," said Claire, pressing her lips to Elle's who dreaming looked on after it.

"Girls! Lyle! Get your butts down here for breakfast!" yelled Joyce and Sandra. The two of them had loved being together again seeing as since they had both married Hank and Noah, they rarely got to see each other, occasionally talk on the phone or through email. Sandra and Noah had moved to Texas and Joyce and Hank to the outskirts of LA. Both girls had moved from Utah to start their own families.

In the house next door to the Summer's, more Initiative experts were inside, watching every move made by Elle Bishop, Claire Bennet and Buffy Summers.


	6. Chapter 6

One week had passed since Sandra and Lyle had arrived on Joyce Summers doorstep. Noah and Claire showed up the day after just after lunch with a beaten and slightly bloodied Elle Bishop. Joyce had been in and out of the hospital for surgery, to remove the brain tumor the doctors had found two weeks before. They were all glad that she was okay, especially the kids, even Elle, seeing as Noah and Sandra had kept it from them, trying to find the right time and way to explain it to them. Riley had explained to Buffy that he had been given the choice to be initiated back into the military, but he had to leave the night after Joyce's surgery and if Buffy really loved him, she would meet him at the helicopter before it took off. She had ended up crying in her room and Elle shocked him badly in her girlfriend's cousin's favour, telling him that he was hurting his soon to be ex-girlfriend. Buffy had shown up to the helicopter pad but it had already taken off when she called Riley's name out, but wasn't loud enough for her voice to reach his ears over the propellers.

Right now, Dawn, Lyle and Claire were all at Sunnydale High School and the bell had just signalled lunch. Being a senior, Claire was allowed off school property and she had lunch with the gang in the Magic Shop. Elle had picked her up from and had to have her dropped her off at school in time for her fifth period PE class, where she was to be yet again bullied by the Sunnydale High School cheerleaders. When they got there they started researching a demon. Claire, and even Elle, had been shocked when none other than West Rosen had walked through the door, grasping Claire in his arms and kissing her hard. She looked down at the ground as he let her go and asked what was wrong.

"We need to talk," she said, pointing to the training room at the back of the store. Elle was up the stairs, raiding Giles' private collection of books and saw everything. Claire raised her attention to the girl, who looked away immediately. She sighed and followed the stupid boy.

"Whoa, nice room. What's wrong?" he asked, snaking his arms around her again, but was quickly and violently pushed back.

"I broke up with you, that is what's wrong! You can't just fly down to Sunnydale when you want 'cause you can't get it through your head that we're not dating anymore. Wait, how did you know I was in-," she whispered the last part. They were interrupted as a scream and a fairly large crash, which sounded like glass and a lot of magical artefacts breaking, coming from the front of the store.

Rushing out into the large room, several army guys were visible through the smoke they had created, Elle had been knocked unconscious and Buffy was trying to beat them up. Seeing one guy go to pick up her girlfriend, Claire went to grab him and push him off but hands came up from behind and trapped her. She began to fight against West until her slapped her, causing her to fall to the ground. Sure it wouldn't leave a mark, but it definitely left her down on the floor dazed and she heard all of West's words.

"I'm getting paid a lot to do this Claire. I get a pass into the military, free education, a brand new car and about $500,000 thanks to Bob. G'night, babe," he said, kicking her in the head and walking out with the military boys. "Let's go guys."

Waking up after moments of being unconscious, she checked on everyone else, Tara and Willow were in shock, Buffy was bleeding, Anya behind the counter. Xander had helped them by throwing really heavy books at the men in black outfits with guns. Everyone was fine, but Elle was gone.

* * *

"DAD!" screamed Claire, rushing into the house, but she stopped in her tracks before she even reached the living room. Buffy was right behind her and bumped into her when she saw who was in the living room. Sandra was crying on the far side of the fire place on the phone, Noah was giving CPR. 

"Mum?" whispered Buffy, slowly walking to a spot between Noah and Joyce and the couch. "Mummy? She's cold."

"Buffy, come and sit over here," said Claire, taking her cousin to sit on the stairs. She was in shock. Sirens could be heard as Sandra put the phone down and opened the door to let the medics in. Noah moved from next to his sister-in-law and let them do their job. It didn't take them long to pronounce her dead after asking Buffy and Noah about her medical history.

They paramedics and come and gone and Buffy had trouble understanding why they didn't take her to the hospital. "I have to tell Dawn. Dawn's at school. I have to go tell her," was all that she seemed to say before grabbing her keys and fleeing from her house.

"Claire," said Noah, pointing after Buffy, while holding his distraught wife.

"I'm going," she replied. Claire was obviously in denial. Her favourite aunt was dead on her own living room floor. She had to be strong for her mother and her cousins. The ride to Dawn's school was short and quiet. It was worse when they got there, Claire was standing awkwardly next to Buffy and Dawn as it was explained to the younger girl that her mother was never coming back.

Several hours later and many outfit changes made by Willow, the gang was in a hospital waiting room with Sandra, Noah, Lyle and Claire. Claire had to get her mind off her aunt's death so she pulled her father aside and explained what happened at the Magic Shop.

"I'll call Peter later-," but he was cut off.

"I'll do it now. I can't stay here, Dad," explained Claire, taking his phone and walking out.

_'Why does she suddenly want her biggest enemy, turned cautious friend, back?'_ thought Noah, going back to Sandra and Dawn.

* * *

In Hartsdale, New York, Elle Bishop was unconsciously hand cuffed to a chair with the Haitian standing over him with his hand on her head. He was waiting for orders to come from Bob Bishop who was standing behind him. It had taken West and the Initiative boys about three hours to get Elle back into New York to her father. West was younger than all the other men and had less experience than them but he had been appointed their leader for this 'mission'. He had no memory of dating Claire, just hating her. 

"This kid can be such a pain in the ass sometimes. Christ, I could kill her!" he muttered, before turning his attention to the memory-remover. "I want you to remove the memories of that little healer and her family except when they were fighting. Take all the memories up until she began to work with them. But leave some guilt there. Oh, yeah, the memories from her childhood too. I told you I'd do worse if you left me Elle."

Bob walked out as the Haitian worked his magic and Elle woke up, staring at him with fear in her eyes. The memories she had of Noah, Sandra, Lyle, Peter and Claire faded from her mind as she struggled against her bonds, looking up at him with a look on her face that said 'get me out of these things or there will be trouble'. She woke up hours later on a bed in one of the many cells that the Company held in the Hartsdale building.

* * *

Back in Sunnydale, Claire was on the phone with Peter outside the hospital and trying very hard to hold back tears. Her girlfriend had been kidnapped and her aunt died from an aneurysm on the same day at the same time. 

"Peter, they have Elle again. We have to get her back! I need her," whispered Claire.

"Claire, what do you want me to do? I don't know where she is," replied Peter, sighing.

"Can't you get Nathan to pull some strings and tell him it's for me? Just find her. West was in on it too. You can walk through things right?" asked the cheerleader, listening expectantly.

"Yeah, but what does that-," he was cut off. He figured that his niece was really desperate to get Elle back so he shrugged off the interruption. "You want me to walk through the walls of the Company to get to Elle? You do know that that is a suicide mission right. If I get caught, no more Elle. You got that? Who is West again?"

"Flying boyfriend, remember. Yeah I got that, but can't you turn invisible too?" answered Claire. Peter wasn't too sure about infiltrating the Company for the second time in a week to get the same girl out. For all he knew, her memories were gone and she hated Claire, not loved her.

"Fine. I'll see what I can find out," said Peter, hanging up.

"Thank you," replied Claire, to the phone's tone.

Turning to head back in, Tara appeared out of nowhere, honestly scaring Claire for the first time in a while.

"Tara, you scared me," said Claire, sighing.

"S-s-sorry. Are you okay? Y-y-you ran out p-pretty fast," stuttered Tara, crossing her arms gently.

"Yeah. With Aunt Joyce dying and Elle being taken, I just had to get out for a few minutes. Had to talk to my uncle so he could find Elle, while I'm here with Buffy and Dawn and Mum," explained Claire, walking back slowly with Tara through the hospital doors.

"Will y-y-you be okay?" asked the witch.

"Yeah, I will be. I just need Elle here and I have to be strong for Buffy and Dawn, my mum a lot and hell even Lyle. How's Willow? She seemed more shaken than Buffy. Xander's been really quiet," asked Claire, moving the spotlight away from her.

"Yeah. W-w-willow and Xander thought of Joyce as another mother. More of one than their own mothers because she knew all about the witchcraft and the slaying and stuff. She t-t-treated them with respect and that's why they love-loved her," explained Tara as they reached the morgue waiting room again. Willow, Xander and Anya had gone for food, Dawn was in the bathroom, Buffy was sitting with Noah and Sandra and Giles had gone with the Doctor to sort through the paperwork.

"Where's Dawnie?" asked Claire, sitting next to Buffy.

"She went to the bathroom across the hall," answered the Slayer, looking to Claire with a blank stare. "She's been gone for a while."

"I'll go check on her for you," suggested Claire. Buffy and Dawn where going to need all the support they could get, Sandra too.

Walking into the bathroom, Claire noticed that all the stalls were empty and it was dead quiet. No sounds of crying or water running. This was the bathroom Buffy pointed out from her seat. Dawn must have gone walkabouts through the hospital. As soon as she stepped out of the hospital bathroom, Claire's eyes landed on the doors to the morgue where her aunt's body was. At least she knew where Dawn was.

The morgue lab was nearing quickly as Claire sprinted down the darkened hall. Crashing, thrashing and small screams could be heard. Buffy was being thrown around by a vampire who had risen from one of the slabs when Dawn had her back turned, ready to pull back the sheet that was covering the deceased Joyce Summers.

During the fighting, Dawn had been pushed and the sheet had been pulled down, revealing her mother's cold and pale face. The vampire went poof and the younger Summers was reaching out to touch her. Claire stepped in, stopping her before taking them back to the others.


	7. Chapter 7

okay, i realise that the chapter might be a little sucky, but im tired and i have writers block and i had to work today and i have to babysit for the next four days so it might be a while before an update. but anyways, enjoy what's there. its my longest chapter so far and the e-claire fluff moment near the end is so cliche and tacky i just had to put it in there. lol. enjoy!

p.s. reviews are appreciated. thanks. constructive critism is welcome and encouraged. D

* * *

"Daddy, where are we going?" asked Elle Bishop. For the last two days it had been heaven for Elle and Bob. He had her memories erased and since then she trusted him completely, never questioning the fact that parts of the days over the last two and a half months had disappeared from her mind. Bruises and cuts still covered her body and she had no idea where they all came from which scared her even though most of them were healing nicely.

"California. You get to follow the Bennet's again. Maybe toy with Claire," suggested Bob, stepping into the private jet that was fuelled and waiting on a private runway near the airport.

"This is gonna be fun," Elle muttered loud enough for him to hear and smirked at the suggestion as she pushed herself through the aeroplane door and into one of the comfiest aeroplane seats her father's money could buy. "How long's the flight?"

"Should be about three or four hours. Sit back and get some sleep. I'll wake you before we land," said Bob, who actually sounded like a genuine father to Elle for a minute there.

She did as her father gently ordered and fell asleep after shoving her iPod into her ears, looking forward to the torture and pain she was about to cause. She wasn't expecting the reaction that the Pom-Pom or Bennet would give her. Hell even people she did remember ever meeting.

* * *

Claire was lying on her bed in her cousin's house, staring at the ceiling and watching the shadows cast by the trees and the sunlight from behind the clouds outside her closed window. Rain was drizzling outside and it made the day even more miserable. When they got home from the morgue, Noah suggested everyone go for an afternoon nap seeing as the trip down to hospital took a lot out of all of them. So there she was on her and Elle's bed waiting for the cell phone next to her to ring shrilly and break the silence, for Peter to be on the other end, telling her where Elle was and how he was going to get her.

Below her in the kitchen, Noah and Xander could be heard having a very grown up talk which almost didn't seem possible for Xander, with him being childish and all. Claire was anxious, scared and grieving. Her mother was a wreck, Buffy had hardly said a word, Dawn hadn't stopped crying after she saw her mother, Lyle was in denial, Willow and Xander were still in shock and Tara and Anya had no clue what to do.

The cell phone beside her rang loudly and she was sure that it woke anyone up that had been asleep.

"Hello," mutter Claire quietly.

"Claire. It's Peter. She's ah... on her way back to Sunnydale-," started Peter, but he was cut off.

"Oh, thank god. You found her. Is she okay?" asked the young girl, sitting up on her bed and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Yeah, that's the thing. She's on her way back with her father. The Haitian apparently wiped her memories of you two dating or ever being your friend or of her ever helping us. She just left in a jet and should be there in a few hours. She's been given permission to torture you for fun," explained Peter.

"Can the memories maybe be triggered by something?" asked Claire, tears welling up in her eyes about the fact that her girlfriend may never remember her that way. Claire could hear Peter whispering in the background asking exactly what she asked. "Who are you talking to, Peter?"

"Uhhhhh, the Haitian. I found him and got him to tell me. Yeah. The memories can be triggered by significant from the time that is gone," said Peter, sighing into the phone. "In other words, you have to get pretty close and I don't know, kiss her or something."

"Thanks, Pete," said Claire, shutting the phone and hurrying downstairs to tell her father.

As she reached the kitchen, Claire slowed her pace and looked him. Xander was sitting at the island and Noah was leaning against the sink. They were the men in Buffy and Dawn's life and needed to be there for them.

"Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?" asked Claire softly. Xander made up some excuse about having to take Anya home because she might drive someone crazy. He left with a gentle hand on Claire's shoulder and a quiet goodbye.

"I thought you were asleep," said Noah, moving to lean against the island as Claire took the now open seat.

"I couldn't. Too many things on my mind," replied the young girl. "Ummm, I just talked to Peter again. Elle and Bob are coming out. He had her memories wiped about us over the last two, three months. She doesn't remember us as her...friends."

"Claire Bear, why are you taking her kidnapping so hard?" asked Noah, putting his hands on his daughters shoulder. Claire knew that if she told her father that she was in love with a deranged sociopath, then she would never see Elle again. So she would have to play this out till she got back.

"I just worry is all. Her memories of her childhood came back and she was different. I just want her to be okay," answered Claire, immediately feeling guilty about lying to her father.

"We'll get her back. When is she supposed to be getting here?" assured Noah.

"Peter said she just left in a just so in a few hours I guess," replied Claire, hugging her father. "I'm going to go get some fresh air.

Claire and Buffy had both refused to go anywhere near the couch since that morning when Joyce was alive with a small headache. She pulled out a thick warm blanket from the hallway closet and went outside to sit on the swing on the front porch. If Elle knew where she was, then she was mostly likely to either watch her or come after her.

It didn't take very long for the sky to go from a light grey to a dark grey to black, the rain got heavier and still, hours later, Claire was sitting on the front porch swing with a thick blanket waiting for the girlfriend who didn't remember her.

At nearly nine pm that night, a warm shiver went down Claire's spine. A kind of shiver she only got around Elle. Shaking the sleep out of her, she sat up on the swing and looked out into the darkness of Revello Drive, spotting a darkened figure walking towards her with an umbrella. The figure reached the stairs of the porch moved the umbrella back to show her face.

"Hey, Pom-pom. What's up?" smirked Elle.

"Elle!" exclaimed Claire, letting out a sigh she had been holding in since the older girl had been taken. Reaching out for a hug, she remembered the memory loss and suddenly retracted.

"Daddy says, I get to play with you," said Elle, sending some playful shocks to the cheerleader.

As pain went through her body in small waves, tears began to stream down her face as she looked at her girlfriend. As Claire landed on the stairs, a hand went to her head. It felt like it was going to explode and the tears coming down her face didn't help either.

"Are you crying?" whispered the older girl, kneeling down beside her. When Claire's head turned her way, she smirked at the pain she had caused. Once she realised that there was no trick and that it was serious, her face straightened. "What's wrong?"

Claire waited moments before replying in clenched teeth. "I love you and don't even know it. You don't know it because of your father."

"Wait, what do you mean you love me?" asked Elle, standing up and backing away slowly to stand a few feet away in the pouring rain, forgetting all about the umbrella in her hands. "You're lying. You don't love me. You hate me, remember?"

"No, I don't hate you. I haven't hated you for last two and a half months because I've been in love with you and you can't remember it. If you don't remember us, then remember that I'll always love you, no matter what," explained Claire, her words coming out more as an angry sob than anything else.

"You're lying!" Elle nearly screamed as more thunder boomed over their heads. For every step she would take back, Claire would take one forward towards her.

"He had your memory erased. What – you find the fact that parts of the last two months are gone fine?" yelled Claire, taking two steps closer and being less than five feet away from the older girl.

A look of realisation came over Elle's face as tears began to mix with the rain drops that were sliding down her face. A voice sounded behind Elle, "Elle, what are you doing? You should be torturing her, not having a girly chat."

"You don't remembering him having you tortured every day for two weeks? You don't remember me and Peter saving you? Why is your father limping? Huh? It's because Peter shot him in the foot when we were trying to save you," explained Claire. Her voice had started off quietly, loud enough to hear over the rain and then she had gotten louder with anger.

"ELLE!" screamed Bob. All the screaming was making it harder and harder for Elle to believe one and not the other. When something clicked in her mind, she turned to her yelling father and screamed, "SHUT UP!"

"If what you're saying is true, and he did have my memory erased, how are you going to prove it? How do you prove that you 'love' me?" asked Elle. More thunder boomed over head and lightning light up the shadows of Claire's face, making her more beautiful if that was possible.

"Elle, get in the car," said Bob, trying one last time to convince his daughter that Claire Bennet was lying.

"Like this," said Claire, moving even closer. She could visibly see Elle gulp as her hand moved to the back of her neck, pulling her closer and brushing their lips together. At first, the older blonde didn't react but as the seconds went by quickly, she moved her lips against Claire's and her tongue begged for entry which was speedily granted.

As air became an issue fast, they reluctantly pulled back, Claire smiling and Elle slightly dazed until she saw who was standing in the doorway of the Summers house. Lowering her head, wishing so badly that she was dry so she could shock her father, a shiver ran down her spine. The ones that used to go from her head to her toes every time Claire kissed her.

"Girls, get inside," said Noah. He had seen and heard everything from the very first shock Elle had sent his daughter's way. He was shocked and confused when Claire had kissed Elle and angered by the fact that they both lied to him. He wondered if anyone in the house knew.

Claire mouthed a 'fuck' when she heard her father behind her and turned with her head down and walked straight past him and into the house. Elle looked at him through the rain and could see him nod his head for her to get inside as well, which she did slowly. Her memories were beginning to re-invade her mind as she walked past Noah with her head up. Tara was standing at the door with some towels she had conjured and handed them to the drowned looking girls.

The front door was still open and Elle stood behind Noah, towel wrapped around her shoulders and Claire behind her. "Are you okay?" was whispered into her ear by Claire and she nodded, still watching the man who had raised her since birth.

"You've taken my daughter from me Noah! So I'll just personally execute yours," said Bob, a gun being pulled from underneath his jacket and held at his side.

"What are you gonna do? I can't die," said Claire, hoping that he didn't know about the fact the she could die if there was something in her head.

"You're wrong there, Claire. The gun was pulled up and aimed at Claire's head.

'_Shit_,' thought Claire. '_The bastard knows how to kill me_.'

Without any warning or movement that was noticed by Noah or Claire, a straight jet of electricity knocked him off him feet and threw him into the nearest telephone pole across the road. The ground around him was crackling with vibes and he was down for the time being. Either till someone picked him up for he just got up. Elle had shocked him badly and he was down for the rest of the fight.

Turning to the two girls, Noah said to Elle, "I knew I liked having you around."

He stepped into the warm house, as Claire nudged Elle smiling until he turned around to face them and their smiles dropped from their faces.

"Oh, and this," he started, pointing between the two of them, "is not happening."

Claire sighed and clenched her jaw before walking into the house miserably.

"One of you can feel free to sleep in Dawn's room," he said, walking into the kitchen where Buffy, Willow, Tara and Sandra were. Minutes later, the two witches walked out of house to go back to their dorm room. Dawn had suddenly taken to sleeping in her mother's room which meant her and Buffy slept in there, Sandra and Noah were in one guest room, Lyle was in a spare bedroom, Claire in Buffy's room and Elle now in Dawn's. This was going to become a nightmare if her father didn't approve of them.

"Kill me," ironically slipped out of Claire's mouth as her and Elle went upstairs to get out of wet clothes and shower. Just before they walked into Claire's room for some clothes and to move Elle's things into Dawn's room, Elle stopped Claire, tugging on her hand gently.

"Thank you for saving me," said Elle.

"You don't need to thank me for that. What, you don't remember that either?" teased Claire.

A cold and shivering young woman whispered in her ear as she turned the handle to open the door to her room. "I love you, too."


End file.
